Process of and machinery for desiccating substances



(No Model,-

H. H. KOHLSAAT.

PROCESS OF AND MAOEINBRY FOR DESIGGATING SUBSTANGES.

No. 269,684, Patented Dec. 26, 1882,

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WITNESSES H INVQNTOR.

I Bmfii2i I ATTORNEYS.

Unmet) STATES PATENT Gaines.

HERMAN H. KOHLSAAT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR DESICCATING SUBSTANCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,684, dated December 26, 1882.

Application filed September 21, 1882. (No model.) i I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN H. KOHL- SAAT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Process of and Machinery for Desiccating Substances, of which the following specification contains full description.

My invention relates to that class of-devices' whereby substances more or less glutinous or viscid may be by drying, and with or without mechanical disintegration, reduced to a dry meal or flour in convenient form and suitable condition to be again dissolved and prepared for use by addition of water; and it may be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is an oblique perspective of a machine constructed.according to the principle of my invention, having a portion of its case cutaway to disclose certain interior. structures. Fig. 2 is a view of one of the drying-cylinders with the canvas jacket removed to show the perforations in the metal shell. Fig. 3 shows details.

A is a drying-case.

B is a trough for containing the liquid to be desiccated.

O is a feed-rollerjournaled in the cross-bars D, which are pivoted out of sight to the supports a of the case A. The trough B is pivoted at b to the cross-bars D, and by meansof the ratchets c and the studs (1 may be hung at varying height with reference to the feedroller 0, so causing said feed-roller to dip more or less into the liquid which may be contained inthe trough'B.

E are drying-cylinders extending horizontally within'the case A,journaled into the ends of the case A, having their journal-boxes F adjustable vertically, as more fully explained hereinafter.

E is also a drying-cylinder placed between the feed-rollerO and the cylinder E, but fixedly journaled in the ends of the case A. G are pulleys fixed to the axes of the cylinders E and E outside of the case A.

H is a vertical shaft carryingdriving-pulleys I, from which, by means of twist-belts J, mo-

50 tion is communicated to the cylinders E and E. The shaft H and its pulleys I should be sustained insuitable bearings, (notshown,) and rotary motion given to it in any usual manner, as by belt K over the pulley L.

I M is a pulley fixed on theshaft H,and driving the feed-roller O by means of the belt 0, passing over the pulley N, rigidly fixed at the outer end of the axis of said feed-roller. The pulley M has an expanded face to retain its belt 0 through all the varying positions of the feedroller 0 as it is raised and lowered by the crossbars D.

P is a movable pin, which, beinginserted in any one of the holes Q in the supports a of the case A, serves to sustain the cross-bars D,

with the feed-roller O and feed-trough B, in

any desired position.

R B are blades notched so as to have square teeth, which are inserted through the slot S in the case A, sothat the teeth 1' may impinge upon the surface ofthe roller E, the two blades being so placed that the teeth of one are opposite the spaces between the teeth of the other. These blades should be placed a small distance apart, one above the other, as shown, leaving a narrow space between them. They may be rigidly fastened together at any point where the fastening will not obstruct the space, as by rivets through arms-T T. The blades R R are adjustably fixed in the position described in any convenient manner, as by the arm T extending behind the end of the case A, as shown in the dotted outline T, and adjustably secured thereto by a thumb-bolt, U,

through the slotV. The ends T of the blades It B should be similarlyjoined and secured to the adjacent end of the case A. Such joining and fastening is not shown on account of the cutting away of the case A at that end.

W are adj llStiUg-SCI'OWS oppositely threaded at the two ends, and having central hub to receive a key or wrench, and by their threaded ends entering the body of the journal-boxes F, provided for that purpose with correspondingly female-threaded sockets, and serving to fix and regulate the distance between the adjacentdrying-cylinders E E. The cylinders E and E" are composed of the perforated shell e-preferably of iron or other material which retains heat well-connected by suitable radial planes orspokes to an axis,as shown, and arecovered with a jacket or sheathing of canvas or other similar material. They are so placed in the case A that they may be, when desired, and in the ordinary operation of the a 'iparatus are, in close tangential contact each with those adjacent, and are given a rotary motion in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The case A is somewhat longer in interior dimension than the cylinders E and E, and is closed throughout, except where it terminates below in the lips a which incline inwardly under and toward the cylinder E, but so as to permit a small segment of that cylinder to pro trude downward between the lips a? and receive the contact of the feed-roller O.

The inclosed chamber of the case A communicates at any convenient point and in any convenient manner with a warm-air chamber of a iurnace, and is thereby maintained at any desired temperature.

The feed-roller U is preferably composed of a solid core--or, it hollow, closed at the endssheathed in jacket of cotton canvas or similar material.

In operating with this apparatus the trough Bis either intermittently or constantly supplied with the liquid to be treated, and, being lifted so that the feed roller may dip in the liquid toany desired depth, is sustained in that position by the ratchet c engaging with the stud (I. The cross-bars D are now raised so as to bring the feed-roller O in contact with the drying'cylinder E. Motion being now given to the system by power applied to the. shaft II, causing it to revolve in the direction indicated by the arrow, the feed-roller G, dipping in the liquid, will carry up a tilm of it on its rear side to the line of contact with E, which, having at that point a motion in the opposite direction, and being in close contact with the feed-roller, will wipe oif the liquid brought up to it by the feed-roller, or some portion of it, and carry it up on its rear side to the line of its own contact with the next roller of the seiies, which in turn will repeat the operation, so passing it on up to the top cylinder, however many may be employed, which will carry it over to the front side, and by the same process pass it to the next below it, and so on down to cylinder E. If a sufiiciently high degree of heat and dryness has been maintained in the drying-case, and a sutliciently long se riesot'drying cylinders been employed to bring the substance being treated to the condition of a thick paste or dough, the blades R and It, being swung into contactwith eylinderE, will remove the substance in thin narrow strips of tapelike form, which, slidingdown the blades t and It, as down a chute, n1 ay be received upon any convenient carry ing-surfacc. I prefer an endless apron of wire-cloth of large mesh, traveling horizontally across the length of the machine-1 .0., parallel with the length of the cylinders-at a speed just equal to the circumferential motion of cylinder E, so that the tapes of paste will lie stretched out upon it and not become bunched into a mass, and thence discharged into any suitable drying room or chamber, or, ifsuffieiently dry already, into any grinding or disintegrating mill or other apparatus. I have not shown any specific device for thus carrying away the substance from the chute formed by the knives R 1%; nor have I shown or described any device for further drying the paste or dough, nor for grinding or disintegrating it, since'there are many devices in common use which may be employed for those purposes; and I do not claim any of them as my invention, which is confined to the process which I have described in detail, and to the apparatus shown.

It may sometimes be found desirable with some substances to charge the drying-cylinders more heavily than can be done by the single coating in the manner just described, particularly in treating non-fluid substances and those which drybut slowly. ]usuch cases I vary the process by breakingthe contact between cylinder IL and the cylinder E following it in the series, which is done by means of the adjusting-screw \V,in a manner which will be understood without explanation. Then, swinging the blades R R away from the cylinder L, I allow it to run in connection with the feed-roller alone for several revolutions, until it becomes sutficiently heavily coated. Then, reestablishing connection with the rest 'of the series by means of the screws \V, the

heavy coat obtained on the first cylinder will be transferred to and through the remainder of the series in the same manner as before (lescribed.

Instead of leaving only the cylinder E in connection with the feed-roller for the purpose of heavy coating, there may be lelt two or more of the series, the separation being effected at any desired point by means of the adjusting-screw controllingjunction where the separation is to be made. Also, it will sometimes be found to be expedient, atter coating the series or any desired portion of it as heavily as desired, to drop the teed-roller out of connection with the drying series, and allow the deposit or coating to make two or more complete circuits before applying the blades to remove it. The series may then be recoated by bringing up the feed-roller again into contact with cylinder E. The drying will be iound to be effected very rapidly,for the reason, first, that, the cylinders being shorter than the case and being hollow, the heated airhas access to their inner as well as their outer surface; second, being composed of iron, they will both retain the heat and impart it quickly to the substance applied to them; third, the shell of the cylinders being perforated, the hot air has direct access to the under surface of the canvas sheathing, and through the pores or meshes of that to the liquid itself, so heating and drying it by direct contact on both sides; fourth, the constant transfer of the substance from one cylinder to the next succeeding one constantly exposes new particles and a new surface to the drying etfect of the heated air; and, fifth, the mode by which that transfer is etfected-via,

ICO

friction or rubbing of one canvas surface upon another-generates considerable heat, and of itself tends to dry the substance.

I have found it possible in the desiccation of egg substance (to which I have chiefly ap plied and for which I have designed this apparatus) to almost complete the desiccation by this friction alone, employing very little additional heat above normal temperature. Further, I find great advantage in the form of the blades It and It,'in that by taking off the substance in narrow strips the further drying is effected in much shorter time than when it comes to that stage of the process in large masses, or even small chunks or lumps. As applied to the desiccation of egg, a great advantage is derived by the above structure, in that the use of the feed-roller permits the placing of the feed-trough outside the heated chamber, so that it is not in danger of souring, as is the case when egg substance in bulk is exposed for any considerable time to temperature above the normal, but too low to'cook it, as must be done in many forms of apparatus for desiccating eggs. The same advantage will doubtless be found in treating many other substances.

Another feature of my invention which renders it peculiarly effective and easily adaptable to various substances is that the feed-roller can, as in the annexed drawings, be given a higher circumferential motion than thedryingcylinder E, so that while the fluid is in its most fluid state, and so inclined to flow back off the surface of the roller, retrograde motion can be compensated by the more rapid rotation of the roller, so that as much liquid can be brought into contact with the drying-cylinder per unit of its surface as may be desired.

0.Similarly, the first cylinder can be given a speed sufficiently greater than the second,and the second than the third, 850., so that the greater fluidity of the substance in the earlier stages of the process, and its consequently greater retrograde movement, will be met and balanced in each stage by greater movement of the carrying-surface, so insuring uniform heads has been used for such purpose; but I do not claim broadly either the use of the revolving cylindrical surface or the use of the canvas surface; but

- What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- l. A desiccating apparatus in which a feedroller or its equivalent is employed to deposit the liquid to be desiccated upon the moving dryingsurface by contact with such surface, such feed-roller having a circumferential motion at the point or line of contact with such dryingsurface in a direction opposite to the motion of the drying-surface at that point or line. I

2. In a desiccating apparatus, a feed-roller or its equivalent having for the purpose of feeding the substance to be desiccated to the drying-surface a motion independent of that of such drying-surface.

3. As a drying device in a desiccating apparatus, a heated chamber, in combination with and containing a cylinder open at the ends, and having its curvilinear shell composed of sheet metal or other good conductor of heat, perforated and sheathed in cotton cloth or equivalent woven and porous substance.

4. The method and process of desiccating viscid substance, which consists substantially in continuously passing it from one revolving surface to an adjacent one by forcible contact of the two surfaces moving in opposite directionsat their points or surfaces of contact.

5. Ifhe method and process of desiccating substances, which consists substantially in.

feedingthe substance from one movingsurface to another by forced contact of such surfaces moving in opposite directions at their points or surfaces of contact within a close chamber or drying-case maintained artificially at a temperature other than normal.

6. As the means of separating the partiallydried substance from the drying-surface ofla desiccating apparatus, the blades It and R, or I their equivalent, whereby the substance is removed in thin narrow strips or shavings.

7. In a desiccating apparatus comprising a series of dryi'ng-cylinders-over which the substance to be treated is passed. substantially as set forth, the combination, with such cylinders, of means for separating them from contact with each other at any point in the series, and for holding them in contact throughout the whole or any part of the series, substantially as set forth.

8. As the drying-surface of a desiccating apparatus, a series-two or moreof cylinders having their curvilinear surfaces in contact successivelyi. 0., each with the one following-and having each anindependent rotary H. H; KOHLSAAT. In presence of- J. W. DARNEILLE, CHAS. S. BURTON. 

